By Sara Guillermo
If you told me this time last year that a global pandemic would unearth every single systemic inequity, I don’t think I would have believed you. A year ago today, IGNITE young women were celebrating International Women’s Day by taking to the streets, registering voters, and talking about voter accessibility all across the country to build a better democracy. And today, they still are. Though isolated and separated, the young women of IGNITE remain ready and eager to become the next generation of political leaders. They have solutions to our country’s deepest issues.
Women are badass super beings who really get shit done. Over the last year I regularly asked myself if I was doing enough or making the right decision for my family, for my community, for IGNITE, for our country. And I know I’m not alone in these thoughts. At any given moment, we are playing the game of prioritization. Will we leave a meeting early to eat lunch with our family? Will we do laundry, go to the park or write postcards to voters? Can we make that donation and still have enough money if and when our partners lose their jobs? What will we do when someone in our family gets COVID? Despite the overwhelming exhaustion, women keep showing up - with a deep sense of love, dedication, and of course humor.
Sara Guillermo at the Young Women Run Chicago event in 2019. Photograph by Mayleen Mermea
Women-led organizations continue to demonstrate their sheer resiliency. As the pandemic became a reality at IGNITE in March 2020, we pivoted to operate 100% virtually. I remember daily being on calls to determine if we needed to cancel an event in Memphis or Baltimore or Chicago. I remember daily huddles with my team to assess what to do next. In hindsight, it felt like multiple spinning discs revolving underneath us without any clear direction or hope in sight. Our innovative and can-do team spent countless hours to host nearly 90 virtual events and trainings, including our very first virtual summit. Overall, we engaged over 5,000 young women across 36 states. About 65% of the young women attended 2 or more events online. We met our young women in the moment, giving them tools, resources and training to remain active. The pivot also gave us new outlets to meet populations that we could not have targeted with solely an in-person approach. We highlighted our young women’s voices throughout the year and provided them opportunities to share their experiences and feel heard. If we’re searching for silver linings in all of this, the ability to connect nationally and lift up our community at a moment’s notice was certainly one of them.
IGNITE Women Young Women Run Texas. 2020. Photo by Brandi McComb Photography
Black and brown young women stepped into their political power in 2020. Let’s talk about the 2020 presidential election and how Gen Z turned out. This past election was the most confusing one of our lifetimes. It was extra hard for Gen Z - as first time voters, they had to not only register but figure out how to vote and who to vote for. For young people in college, there were countless housing disruptions that led to questions of where to have a ballot mailed to. Where to vote? How to vote? And of course all this, while voting rules continued to change. Amidst all of the obstacles, we saw that the Gen Z turnout was extraordinary. In states like Georgia, Gen Z represented a share as high as 20% of the voting population. The young women’s turnout was higher than their male peers by about 6 points (standard across all voting blocks but the oldest voting population). We also know that young women voted for President Biden at considerably higher rates than young men. This was especially true among young women of color. Given the vote totals for Gen Z - and especially Gen Z women - in the 2018 and 2020 elections, we are looking at a generation of women who will be more politically engaged than many of the generations that preceded them. American young women have written their page in the history books as a new generation of activists.
Sara and her mother Elisa Guillermo. Photograph by Mayleen Mermea
There is still so much work to do. The scenes of the past year are forever seared in our memories - from George Floyd’s death, to the orange day in the Bay Area during the fires, to the insurrection at the Capitol, and countless moments in between. We are amidst a 21st century civil rights movement in America. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said it best: “The people who are closest to the pain should be closest to the power.” Young women are at the forefront. They are ready for power. Ready to inform and monitor new policies, assess and regulate a new era of democracy. In Eastvale, CA IGNITE alum and current staff member, Jocelyn Yow (26) had a baby in May 2020 and was sworn in to serve as Mayor in Dec 2020 only to determine how to roll out COVID-19 testing and vaccination protocols as well as reopening businesses. In Dallas, TX IGNITE alum Karla Garcia (24) serves as a School Board Trustee for the largest school district in Texas - Dallas ISD. Karla worked with her fellow Trustees to determine when schools would close, what distance learning would look like, and how students will return back to school. In Nashville, TN, current Fellow Jeneisha Harris started a Free Breakfast Program during the summer of 2020 as a project from the Black Panthers. As a community board member myself, our commission determined funding priorities during COVID and how we could support our most vulnerable populations. We are at the table and ready to lift more of our sisters into power.
As we look towards municipal elections this year and midterms in 2022, we have to double down on our investment in our young women. That means asking young women to run and getting behind their campaigns when they do. We have no other option but to open as many doors as humanly possible for our young women to continue to step into our political power.